Hosted by the New Mexico Department of Agriculture
Las Cruces, New Mexico
May 19-23, 2008
[updated 9/18/08]
WAS THE AGENDA FOR THIS COURSE ADEQUATE AND DID IT MEET YOUR EXPECTATION?
 | Absolutely! It exceeded my expectations. Great job! (I’ll send my director to attend the next one). |
| It was very good. |
| Very good agenda. Excellent speakers. Really enjoyed each state/tribe talk. |
| Although some of the agenda items are not occurring on tribal lands, there were very good presentations with excellent information. I feel I have gained enough info to be prepared for these issues when the applications begin. I also value the contacts that came from this PREP for further assistance needed. |
| Yes. The agenda/program appeared to meet the course goal. Good mix of topics. The state/tribe presentations were really good overall. |
| Yes. This was an excellent course. Very well organized, very well prepared, very well managed to ensure everyone felt welcome, everyone felt their input was valued. My comments below are only intended to add the tiniest ideas for slight improvement- but this course would be hard to improve much - it was excellent. Thanks! One thought: this course was a little heavy on termite subject - maybe next time make an effort to add components on other pests (flies, roaches, rodents, and ants). |
| Yes. Although some of the subject matter doesn’t really apply to what I do, it may in the future and I appreciate the information. |
| Agenda was very helpful to learn about the issues of 25b products and other issues states and tribes are dealing with. NM hospitality was excellent. |
| The agenda was well received. This is my first PREP and was not sure what to expect. Really enjoyed the state presentations. I was a little concerned it was going to be a "totally green" meeting but I was pleasantly surprised of the overall content of the meeting. |
| Yes, it was described well and delivered. |
| Excellent program - hosts went above and beyond. Speakers were extremely knowledgeable. |
| Needed a 2 hour primer on structural - techniques and chemicals for those of us which have little background with structural. Excellent - plenty of time for discussion. Offsite activities great and facilitated the camaraderie - barriers broke down quickly. Great sort of expert. |
| More than met what I expected. |
| Yes, it was very enlightening. |
| Cary Hamilton contributed knowledge and hospitality to the course. The information on the state and facilities in the area were awesome! Thank you Cary for the tour of Deming, Hatch and the bus ride and great cook out at White Sand National Monument. Also, thank you Bonnie and Ceci for making this a memorable event. |
| Yes and more than! I liked the change in agenda making it broader in scope than just "pre-treats." Also glad state presentations were kept - learned a number of things from these. |
| I gained knowledge from every topic discussed. The state talks were educational as well. |
| I really enjoyed what was talked about during this PREP. |
| It was excellent. Very well thought out. |
| The agenda exceeded my expectations since I thought only, or primarily termite control would be the subject matter. |
| Yes. State reports were very good and always generates good discussion. |
| This agenda was very good. It provided a good overview of a lot of the issues involving the structural industry. A presentation in the rodenticide issues. The state/tribe presentations were excellent and the way it was set up was very good (overviews of issues) within the state with tribe stored product pests might be another possible topic. |
| Yes. The agenda/course exceeded my expectations. The presenters were mostly well prepared and provided an interesting perspective. Informative and enjoyable. |
| Yes. The variety of issues will help me expand my understanding of issues in the structural industry. |
| The agenda was certainly adequate and overall exceeded my expectations. Enjoyed looking at label language and would like to spend more time on that in the future. |
| The agenda overall met the expectations for this course. The agenda provided a good mix of issues that are currently being addressed by the structural pest control industry. |
| The agenda fully met my expectations and was a wealth of useful information. |
| Need more info on mold and school IPM fumigation is very important - but I felt we spent too much time on it. |
| Very good agenda. The course was informative and had the topics I need for my job. |
WHAT COULD THE PREP PLANNERS HAVE DONE TO MAKE THIS COURSE MORE USEFUL TO YOU?
| Change not a thing - good work. |
| It’s ok. No problem at all. |
| Have each state/tribe provide handout of background on their program example - # of applicators, categories, # of structural complaints/year, and type of complaints. |
| Allow a little more time for presentations. Maybe plan field trips closer to class locations (no 2 hour drives to and from) and make sure the field trip stays within the context of the course. |
| An actual mock-up inspections, trucks, equipment, records etc. |
| After 100 PREP courses, it seems that you really have it down to a science. The only problem I had was upon arrival, I thought I missed the shuttle and could not find the "ground transportation" site. I had to call twice but eventually I found it and was not late. |
| Ask field trip organizers to specifically show or even do an exercise to engage participants in the pest control aspects at the food processing plant (or whatever structural setting you choose next time). More IPM please! I realize most participants are involved in regulation but often, IPM is a larger component of licensing and policy - so would be good to include more on IPM. |
| Spread the issues out a little more. |
| Nothing, the courses were well planned and thought over. |
| The topics are applicable to many aspects of my job. Not sure how improvement could be made. |
| More general pest control topics. Too much about termite treats. |
| 1-page fact sheet on chemicals with products. Inspection checklists would have been useful. |
| Possible breakout sessions for structural supervisors so that speakers such as the Texas Coyote specialist could have been utilized (and he was great) with regulatory states/tribes who are involved in predatory control. |
| Nothing, they do a great job. |
| There was a lot of fumigation topics- I felt that fumigation is not the most widely used method of WDO control - I expected more variety in the WDO topics. |
| Perhaps a few less topics with more time allotted for discussion. |
| I would like to see a report on IPM in schools project that included student participation. I believe that a section on financial management and continuity of operation plans (coop) would be of value. |
| It was very good and I cannot think of anything. |
| I would enjoy more roundtable presentations. This course was focused a bit on termites would have appreciated discussion on other structural pests. |
| I think this program was excellent. The program planning, the host state, NM all made this a memorable week. |
| The PREP planners did a good job in meeting the request of past attendees’ comments related to subject areas. The participants’ suggestions should continue to build upon the input of the participants. Overall the PREP planners just need to keep building on the successes of the courses and learn from any short falls. |
| Although this program was excellent, there may be some usefulness in dividing the 5 day program into a general session lasting 3 days and devoting the 4th and 5th day to highly technical topics (termiticides, mold remediation, etc.) and have attendees choose to attend either the 4th or 5th day (or both). (The day off would be an opportunity to tour the area). |
| You all did an excellent job, very well organized. Thank you. |
IF THIS COURSE WAS TO BE HELD AGAIN IN THE FUTURE, CAN YOU SUGGEST FACULTY WHO COULD SUBSTANTIALLY IMPROVE THE AGENDA?
| Reciprocal agreements between states for applicator license. Example: if an applicator gets a license from California, goes to Arizona gets a license based on the CA training and then the applicator goes to New Mexico and the license is suspended. Where does the license get suspended from CA or AZ? |
| Okay. |
| Dr. Jim Criswell - OK State University, Stillwell OK on Aluminum Phosphide fumigation. |
| Needs no improvement. |
| Too much focus on fumigation. There were several main presentations on fumigation techniques. The speaker from "Beavis Pest" was very good with information from regulated community. |
| I’m new to structural pest industry. I’ll have to comment on the next one. |
| Coby Schal - I think he’s at NCSU - cockroach IPM guy. Tom Green - IPM Institute - to discuss school IPM. Mike Merchant - TAMU- general urban structural IPM. Bobby Corrigan - RMC Consulting (Indiana) - rodent expert. |
| No. |
| It would be hard to improve. More of the same. |
| Dini was great. |
| The "substantially" limited suggestions but Jerry Gold comes to mind and bring Dini Miller back. |
| Dr. Denini, Rick Cooper, Cooper Pest Control (Stewardship) and New Bed Bug covers and treatment. |
| Not at moment (fried brain) but would certainly respond to an email. |
| All was good with the faculty. |
| No. |
| Dr. Laurel Hansen - carpenter and nuisance ant expert (Spokane Community College and Washington State University), Dr. Ed Bechinski - entomologist and IPM extension (University of Idaho, real communicators), Dr. Boris Kondrotiet - entomologist with great expertise in insect life histories (Colorado State University). |
| Rodent Control expert - i.e. Robert Corrigan, bird control (IPM and chem.) |
| If you would do something on Rodent Control, Bobby Corrigan is always the individual that comes to mind with this subject matter. |
| More balanced from industry perspective - like industries perspective but…wildlife too rural of a perspective, but important topics. Provide more of a survey of emerging pest issues. |
| The suggestion of future courses would depend upon the topics that need to be covered. This course had a very strong group of faculty that should be utilized in the future. |
ANY ADDITIONAL COMMENTS?
| Loved the PREP satchel. For tribes without experience in structural areas, be able to give a power point on pesticide program or closely related topic. |
| Thank you very much for organizing this PREP. This is my first but I feel that this is the best meeting I ever had. Good, informative, applicable info, good interactions. |
| Needs a stronger projector for PowerPoints - photos were not being projected very well. Program ran very good. Thanks! |
| I wished that I had a video camera for everyday. |
| This was a great workshop! And will greatly help me to create CIRT-EPO codes-regs (structural). Keep up the good work! |
| Thank you to all persons involved in providing this opportunity and great program. The hotel accommodations were excellent as well as the meeting site. Breaks and lunch were all great. Dea Suzanne and Sanaa, thanks for your job skills, in that you just did a great job. |
| Ask presenters - especially the faculty such as outside speakers brought in specifically to talk to this group, to include IPM recommendations for managing the target pests, to the degree possible. For example, Dini Miller’s (which was excellent), could be even further improved if she had added one more slide with her current recommendations for bed bug control. There were questions from the audience asking her for that. |
| Thank you for this opportunity. Enjoyed the course, gained a lot from individual presentations. |
| This was a real eye-opener as to how similar the issues throughout the states are. I don’t feel alone with my problems. I now have lots of people to contact for problem solving and from whom I have gotten lots of great ideas to improve my program! |
| I would like more about successful training programs. Do states have programs like Oklahoma’s? |
| The state/tribal presentations all were great. A great addition to the agenda. Tribal participants added a lot to the course. State expertise is where it is. I had fun - and learned at the same time. Much was unscripted - excellent! Thank you New Mexico! |
| I’ve said that Brian Springer could not have been a worse choice. |
| Congrats to Dea on her 2nd PREP MEISTER role and 100th PREP session. |
| The industry representative was not the best speaker, I felt. Compared to the other PREPs I have been to - this one was more relevant to our state than the other ones. Usually only 3 days (at most) of the whole week are pertinent topics. |
| Very enjoyable - I had a great time. Thank you all. The White Sands trip was wonderful! |
| Great job. |
| This was definitely one of the best EPA-sponsored trainings I have attended. Well organized, interesting topics and great forum for increased discourse and sharing of experience and ideas. Thanks! |
| I attended some leadership training where each individual shared 3 things that they had learned/experienced/observed that could be applied in their programs. I felt that this provided feedback to participants and instructors of the value of the training provided. |
| Excellent job. Meeting was very good, logistics and accommodations. Great job. Thanks. |
| Overall all very good. Was a very helpful class for me. |
| I feel the networking that takes place at PREP is extremely valuable. It is very helpful for me in my job to see how things are done in other states. I believe the state presentations are beneficial for the same reasons. |
| Special thanks to NMDA staff and UC Davis for a very good PREP course and logistics throughout the course. Topics were on target and from comments that I personally heard, they got a great deal from the course. NMDA did an outstanding job on hosting the course. GREAT JOB. Hats off to Suzanne and company for all the hard work and effort. Hotel and meeting room was very good. Meals were also very good, great job. Very good class of participants that were actively engaged with the presenters and issues that were presented during the course. Glad to see tribes attending this course and their interaction with other state participants. Great after hours discussions on structural issues between the attendees. One of the more beneficial side benefits. Great job - 100 PREP, folks! |
| Talks on rodent control should be considered. Rodent control includes products like tracking powder - a federally restricted pesticide. Rodenticides in general are toxic and merit a good deal of regulatory attention. |
| Please invite more university speakers - we need research data to be more effective. |
| Great host. |